November 4th / 5th – Venue Vischers Bar

Shay – Intro and Round up on Irish Pub Global Event in Dublin

Monday 04th November 2013

16:00 – Paraic O’Lochlainn My Place Connect
Presentation on his company’s WIFI Product + package with a 20% offer for IPAG Members for 1st year – i.e. instead of 39 €
per month – approx € 31 per month
Paraic is to send his company’s Terms and Conditions and we have to have these evaluated in regard to protection issues.
17:00 – Shay introduced his Firbeag Range of spirits
These are an own brand being made by a German company specially for Irish Pubs to make typical Irish Pub specialist shots
such as an Irish Flag – Baby Guinness –
17:30 – Vincent Clarke – Eirelux Food + Drink Supplies Luxembourg
Introduced his Kennedy Range of Irish Whiskey – 4 Flavoured Whiskeys as well as the Original
Armagh Cider Company Ciders – Dry + Sweet –
He forgot to present his Two Trees Vodka – Poitin + Gin also produced by West Cork Distillers.
18:00-19:30 – Dinner at O’Sheas
19:30-20:30 – Thorsten Nickel - Carlsberg Germany – presented his Irish Red Concept for Irish Pubs
Magners Red Berry Cider

Tuesday 05th November 2013
Time 10:30 –Topics under discussion

First things first – Derek Dwyer opened with the issue of open fees – some members still had not paid their fee – All Members will receive an invoice at the end of the year for 2013 – we are NOT a Verein but a “Verband” -

A. GEMA
We decided to stand up to GEMA and to fight them as best we can – however - Paul Daly and Paul Fleming (Munich) both met with GEMA in Nuremberg after our IPAG Meeting and were able to report that

- A "Verband" is entitled to a 20% reduction in all Gema fees including canned music from Harddrives or Cds.

- To qualify for this 20% reduction IPAG has to have a formal structure – we can supply this

- We need to have at least 46 members –

- Their offer for us that they will only charge for up to 100 square metres although our Pub areas are bigger but they can't tell us
what the rate will be until the end of November.

- Another condition for live music is to send in a song list for each gig to receive the 20% reduction.

We are very close to this 46 figure – this is a very attractive offer for all concerned

B. Sky
– There is a meeting arranged for January 22/23 in Cologne with Sky
– Ray Searson is to contact Uwe Müller (Head of Sky Germany) and Derek Dwyer and Ray will meet him beforehand to tease out a
few issues prior to January meeting.
- Meeting is to be in Munich – (as per 11.11) so perhaps Paul Daly will attend too – if possible

C. Craft Beers + New Beers
Among the members present there was a great discussion and general consensus that the trend is heading towards Craft Beers and specialist products –
For brewery-free Pubs this is a great opportunity to gain some control of their supply chains and move away from being under the control of the “Big Players”
• Paul Daly (Munich) is having a “Pale Ale “ brewed by a local Brewery in Munich –
He’s getting the first 50 Hectolitres brewed – he needs some other publicans to take this on board to make it a viable concept.
• Thorsten Nickels “Irish Red” could also be attractive to some publicans – however it is for each to decide. Carlsberg can however
supply Magners Cider at a very attractive price – this could be worth looking into - Less than 20€ per 12 X 0.5ltr Box

D. Money Saving Concepts
There was a lively discussion regarding areas where potential savings can be made in regard to the day-to-day operational costs
.
1. Energy –
Jim Murdock (Augsburg) explained that he had his local Stadtwerke come out and do an energy audit and was able to save
money in this way.

2. WIFI –
some members explained that Kabel Deutschland is now offering a package for Gastronomie for 19,90 € per month for a Hotspot
However -
BIG differences between MySpace Connect and Kabel Deutschland Offer are
- With My Place Connect for 31 € per month - you have the so-called email capture feature.
This gives you the email addresses of your customers who visit your Pub and log on –
this is a very important marketing tool.
They also can then link this to a “tagging feature in Facebook”
Kabel Deutschland, on the other hand, will collect this customer information for themselves and will sell this information on to
Third Parties and this is how they make money. (This is marketing Gold)
• My Place Connect also give you the opportunity to redirect the customer to a special page or you can inform the customer of your
current “Special Offer”
This means you can select a product and then tell your supplier or rep that you want 2 free barrels, or whatever, if you place his/her product on the “landing Page”

Conclusion
If you see the internet as a tool to help you drive your business then maybe My Place Connect is the better option. My Place Connect also offer monthly contracts – so no two-year tie up there.
It’s up to each Pub owner

Jim Murdock also said that he is going to look into a product he has heard about from a provider in Berlin + he will let us know.

E. Beers Gas Systems
The beer gas separator systems were also discussed at some length as a way to save money –
There is a company in Bavaria called Heusler who lease the system for around 100-120 EUR per month
John Kerr mentioned an Irish Company called Mini Max
There is also a company called CARBO Kohlensäurewerke GmbH & Co. KG
Sprudelstraße 1
53551 Bad Hönningen
Tel.: 02635 / 7890
Fax: 02635 / 78910
E-Mail: info.hgn@carbo.de
These guys also do separators see http://www.carbo.de/airseparatoren-ghga.html

F. Handdryers
Dyson Blades were also mentioned as a potential money saving option – Jim Murdock and Charlie Redmond (Anglo-Irish Frankfurt) both mentioned some minor feedback noise issues relating to the Dyson, however all those who have them installed said that they do save money!

G. Next Steps
Derek Dwyer mentioned that we will arrange a meeting with the Irish Tourist Board to discuss the success of the Gathering Year 2013 and the fundamental role which the Irish Pub Network played in making it a success –
Meeting TBA end of November –P. Daly – Shay + D.Dwyer to attend to be held in FFM
We will then try to get some sponsoring of some Kind of deal for IPAG + its Members, so that we can keep promoting Ireland.
IPAG will also approach Aer Lingus and ask them for some form of sponsoring – e.g. free flights

H. Facebook
A Private Facebook page will be set up for IPAG Members to remain in Touch

I. Karaoke Star 2014
The Irish Pub Germany Karaoke Final will be held in Munich on the 26th April 2014 –
IPAG Members will receive information and all pubs are invited to send entrants to the final